


Clandestine

by SydAce



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: COVID-19, Investigative Journalism, May continue?, Modern!Death Note, Other, Podcast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydAce/pseuds/SydAce
Summary: Something that is kept secret or done secretively. That is the nature of the podcast that dives into some of the world's most bizarre and often times unsolved crimes. When the Kira case rears its ugly head, the podcast host, known only as Clandestine, makes some surprisingly accurate assumptions, drawing both the attention of L and Kira.
Relationships: L (Death Note)/Reader
Comments: 20
Kudos: 114





	1. Clandestine

No one really knew what their real name was. It was the username that they used in all of their podcasts. They were crime podcasts, looking to solve crimes that had gone cold for years – if not decades. It renewed the public’s interest in crimes that were shoved to the side.

People speculated that the person was a detective. After all, they uncovered clues to a couple of cases that led to arrests. Then, there was the fact that they seemed to have an understanding on how crimes worked. It could be that they were actually a forensic psychologist. Some people claimed that this person could even be L, but that was unfounded and not true.

The only name that people could agree on was their username. Clandestine.

“Now, it seems we are in today’s top mystery. Kira.” A voice sounded through his speakers. The voice was altered to the point where the listener couldn’t discern the gender of the speaker. It was not unlike the filter he used to mask his voice. “Before I start, wear your damn masks. It’s illegal in many places to not wear them. Also, if you wear a mask, Kira can’t kill you.”

The person paused. “Though it hasn’t been confirmed by investigators, I believe that Kira needs a name and face in order to kill. Those that haven’t had either their name or face posted haven’t been killed. This is true for people whose names have been misspelled or the wrong photo has been attached to the criminal. So both must be correct.” The man listening to the podcast chewed on his lip and shuffled in his chair. One foot scratched the other. “Which also means we’re not dealing with some sort of all-knowing deity. I do believe that we are dealing with a human that was given some remarkable power, but not enough power to eliminate body functions or demands from day-to-day life. The person still needs to sleep and has a life outside of being Kira. Kira is not a god like some of you claim.”

“Watari,” the listener spoke into a secure connection he held with the older man. “Please look into the podcast series by Clandestine. I want to know who they are and if they could fit Kira’s profile. They know more than what the police have even realized.” He left out that he had already deduced such.

“Right away,” Watari’s voice sounded back.

“Now, based on the times of the killings, I would say that Kira is either an individual that works nine to five or is a student. Though, given that he is trying to go after crime and is simply killing criminals and not the root cause of crime, he has a long way to mature. Ergo, he’s most likely a student. Probably around high school. Any younger and he’d probably kill those torturing him, like some bullies or a teacher. Any older and he’d probably kill competition in his business or romantic lives.”

The man listening to the podcast nodded along in agreement. He was actually surprised to hear a podcast make these claims – even more so if this person weren’t a trained professional. True, most of the data on the Kira killings was public. But most citizens wouldn’t take the time to comb through the data, much less would be able to correctly make these assumptions.

“I also say he for Kira, because…Let’s be real, statistically, most known serial killers are men. And that’s what Kira is. A serial killer.” The speaker cleared their throat. “I’m just glad that no one knows who I am or what I look like. I don’t think it’ll be long before Kira is fine doing away with innocent people.”

“Yes, but it also won’t be long before I know who you are,” the listener replied to the recording. He took a sip of his overly sweet cup of coffee. “Both you and Kira.”

“Anyways,” the speaker sighed and then inhaled. “You could be asking; well the time is different depending on where you are in the world. So it could be someone that works at night. Which that’s not a wrong assumption. However, most of the killings are centered around Japan. Have you tried finding news from different countries? Much less navigate between languages? It’s difficult. That’s why the only criminals to have really died in other countries have made international news or are on INTERPOL’s most wanted list. Besides those top profile criminals, the majority have all been in Japan.”

The listener picked up an empty container of what used to hold an empty container of coffee creamer.

“So what do we know? Kira needs a name and face in order to somehow kill someone.”

He put the creamer down on the desk in front of him and picked up another.

“Kira is most likely a student.”

The second container rested itself on first.

“Kira is most likely male.”

Then there was a third.

“And Kira is somewhere in Japan.”

There was a fourth stacked. The listener glanced over to see that the rest of the containers had fallen onto the ground besides his desk. He frowned as his stacking was interrupted.

“So what are the next steps for the Kira investigation?” the podcast host questioned. The listener turned back towards the computer, questioning exactly what this person would say. “First, narrow down exactly were in Japan. Perhaps region by region through a sort of trap. Given social media, this could prove difficult. So it’d be best to get it right on the first try.”

“Yes, or we could simply black out anything that has to do with Kira during these tests,” the listener responded. “Besides, our trap is already planned. And if I am correct, we should get it right on the first try.”

In fact, the man had already laid out traps that was helping to deduce exactly where Kira was, down to the city. Criminals had their names posted under different names depending on the location of the user’s IP address. If a criminal died, then whichever region that had the correct spelling of their name pointed to where Kira was residing. It wasn’t perfect, but it was working. Unfortunately, what he was doing wasn’t enough proof for the police. He’d need the smoking gun.

“Next, would be to identify a list of plausible suspects. Of course, if the region is large, say in Tokyo, that would be extremely difficult. You’d have to further identify key characteristics for Kira’s psyche and hope he would mess up. If that were to happen, then you’d most likely trail the suspects to see if they have any suspicious behaviors. Of course, the ultimate goal would be to find the murder weapon. It wouldn’t be a traditional weapon. No one has the ability to teleport around the world and give criminals heart attacks within seconds of one another. There’s no doubt something beyond the understanding of modern science is in play.”

“That’s a good way to phrase it, that the supernatural is here, but we’re detectives and can’t just state that,” the listener mused to himself. Growing more and more curious over who exactly this person could be. Perhaps they were Kira themselves? No, they didn’t match the profile he had already set up for Kira in his head.

The man opened files he received from INTERPOL for criminals that were on death role. Perhaps he’d give this person some more information on Kira’s case. See what they would have to say about it. Then again, he’d hope that the person would give away too much in case Kira was listening. He couldn’t have Kira’s behavior change too much if he wanted to gather any evidence.

“L,” Watari’s voice suddenly sounded. “I have identified a possible individual responsible that would be linked to the podcast. I am sending you over the files now.”

“For now, I’ll keep a watch over the case. When updates are available, I’ll try to share them with you. And remember, wear your damn mask.”

L opened a file on Clandestine just as the podcast ended. An image linked to an actual name appeared. He chewed on his thumb as he read over the profile. “Hello, [Y/N].”


	2. Hostage Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A podcast sheds light that Kira may be actually killing some innocent people.

“Due to the surge of responses with the Kira podcast, I’m going to dive a little deeper in. This time, I’ll be discussing the justice system where the majority of criminals are dying. Japan has one of the world’s highest conviction rates, coming in above ninety-nine percent. Now, why is this?

"There are two possibilities, according to J Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School and Eric B Rasmusen of Indiana University. First, in most cases, there is not a jury. The judge is the one to pass a guilty or innocent verdict. With this being said, the judge has close connections to the rest of the criminal justice system. They could become pressured to pass guilty verdicts.

“Second, those accused are treated guilty unless proven innocent. Prosecutors are overworked and have a low budget. They only bring those that they are certain are guilty to trial. They do not bring in others that they are not certain.

“Now, this could mean that the prosecutors are great at their jobs and that almost every person they send through is guilty and that the judge is able to determine which ones are innocent. This could mean that a lot of guilty people aren’t being prosecuted because there’s not enough evidence to convict. Or it could mean something more sinister, especially in the time of Kira. Innocent people are being ruled guilty.

“In the United States, the conviction rate is around 88%. We all know that there are innocent people among those convicted. Some of which have been sentenced to death, including a child. This does make me wonder just how many guilty rulings are innocent, especially in Japan.

Now, going back to Japan, let’s dive into hostage justice or 人質司法. Hostage justice refers to the act of detaining suspects for an extended amount of time. This can force the detainees to answer investigators’ questions without a lawyer present and forcing them to give a false confession. This is…disturbing.

“So not only are we looking at possibly corrupt judges and no juries leading to a high conviction rate, but we have cops playing dirty. There is no doubt in my mind, that Kira is killing innocent people. There is no doubt in my mind, that Kira is becoming the monster he is trying, in his twisted mind, to rid the world of.”

There was a pause from Clandestine. Then, shuffling. “Shit, what the hell?” They questioned off-mic. “Hang on.” Dull voices sounded in the background like they were coming from a radio, television, or computer. They turned up in volume. It wasn’t in English.

”何を起こってますか。“ The host of the podcast uttered in Japanese, just barely audible to the audience. There was screaming from a single man from whatever source they were watching or listening to. “Holy shit.” There was more shuffling from the host. “I…He just…Died.”

“I’ve set up countless screens with countless IP addresses to try and locate when and where the police would make their move to capture Kira. It’s been tuning in to local breaking news. You have no idea how many times Trump has come up. I’ve had to block that moron’s name in my program just to try and get something relevant to Kira. But now I think…Yes, it’s L. L’s finally made his move. And he’s in the Kanto region. It looks like he could be between Saitama and Tokyo. I didn’t think I’d actually be able to track it when it happened. Well, there’s a couple of minutes in the delay, but still.”

“So now,” Clandestine started. There was a clacking of their fingers against a keyboard as they typed faster than the average person. “There are about 15 million people in Tokyo and Saitama. If Kira’s a man, that narrows it down to roughly 7.5 million people. And, let’s just say that the age demographic is generally the same in Tokyo and Saitama as the rest of Japan then 9.63 percent of that will be…” The host paused. “I hate doing math in my head, sorry. Uh, 722,250 people. That’s roughly how many people we’ve narrowed it down just based on location, sex, and age. Of course, we can narrow that further down based on personality, intelligence, and possibly if they’re related to the police in some way.

“If I were L, I would try to see if I could figure out if Kira has any connections to the police. Then, that would reduce the number down to maybe just a couple of thousand people, if not a couple of hundred. But, for right now, I’d say narrowing it down from over seven billion people to just over seven hundred thousand people is pretty good.”

The recording ended after a brief outro. A high school student leaned back in his chair, staring at his computer. His fingers tapped away at his desk absentmindedly. A firm frown was set on his face. Chuckling sounded from behind him.

“I assume you got all of that, Ryuk?” the student questioned a demon-like entity behind him.

“Of course. We Shinigami are able to understand every human language. We do read your names, you know? What are you going to do about them, Light?”

Light turned around and was facing the Shinigami who grabbed a nearby apple. “Right now, I have to assume that this person is both L and not L.”

“Oh?”

Light turned back. “If I understood their English well enough, they’re able to make some of the same deductions as L. Though, there seem to be some differences between them. I can’t imagine L would go public in a podcast like this. But it could also be a trap set by L. So for now, I’m going to presume two different possibilities. I can’t be too careful.” The student turned back to their laptop. “Still, there is something that’s bothering me.”

“And what’s that?”

The frown on Light’s face grew more set-in-stone. “It is possible that Kira killed some innocent people that were convicted wrongly. All the more reason for Kira to be around, to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. If that happens, fewer innocent people will be killed. Still,” Light pulled up some files from a local server. “Dad doesn’t always understand how to lock his computer from the home network. I can look into criminal cases and see if the police did try to force a confession. I can also see if there were outside pressures on a judge and reduce the risk of an innocent person from getting in the way of Kira’s mission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unless you speak Japanese, you're not really supposed to understand the bits in Japanese. It's not for the reader, it's for the person as they speak to themself.


	3. Police Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira is revealed to be connected to the police.

“Sometimes, I forget that things aren’t the same way worldwide,” the person in the podcast spoke. “I hate leaving my house now. Well, more than I did before. I hated it before, too. But now it fills me up with a sense of panic. A panic that I might die. And I can now rationalize that panic because I could get sick and die.”

There was a brief pause in the podcast. The great detective glanced at the screen that contained the podcast window to make sure it was still playing.

“I forget that the rest of the world isn’t as messed up as it is here in the states. People actually listen to scientists, wear masks, social distance, and their country isn’t like it is here. I mean, the States is breaking new records every day. Thousands of people are dying each day and people are still saying it’s fake.” Clandestine sighed. “To an extent, I understand where Kira is coming from. Whenever I see a person not wearing a mask in public, I understand Kira’s rage.”

The detective frowned and took a bite out of his cake with more force than normal. He continued to scroll through the podcaster’s profile he managed to put together. It didn’t fit Kira’s profile. [Y/N] didn’t live in Japan, much less not between Saitama and Tokyo. They also weren’t a high school student.

"But then I pause and think about how that person’s death could impact those that are close to them. I wonder, if that person were to get sick and die, how would that person’s family feel? And honestly, if you’re out there not taking this pandemic seriously, I don’t give a shit what happens to you. I give a shit about what happens to those close to you. They don’t deserve the pain they could feel if you die.” Clandestine took a deep breath. “And that’s why I could never do what Kira is doing. But there are some updates on the case.”

The detective raised an eyebrow and glanced at the picture of the podcaster as if it was the picture speaking to him.

"Kira’s killings have been more selective. Normally, Kira would kill criminals that committed more severe crimes without hesitation. However, there have been a few select that have not died. This isn’t because their names have been misspelled or that their faces haven’t been public. No, there’s something else going on here.

“I can’t say for certain, but usually, a criminal would be killed with a few days of their name and face being announced. So I looked into a few of the criminals that haven’t been killed. About a couple of weeks after their sentencing was announced, it came out that there may have been a false confession. Remember when I talked about hostage justice? Yeah, that.

“How did I overlook this?” the detective questioned himself as he chewed on his thumb.

“This can only mean,” Clandestine continued.

“That Kira has a connection with the police,” the detective finished. “So there is the solid bit of evidence.”

Light stepped through the front door and slipped his shoes off before calling out that he was home. No one responded in the empty Yagami residence. He raised an eyebrow with suspicion. Usually, his mother would be home. It was unusual that she wasn’t there, even more so with the pandemic.

He stepped through the house and towards the washroom to cleanse his hands before he removed his facemask. He remained silent and ignored Ryuk’s complaints that they were out of apples. The high school student placed his mask in a hamper and went up towards his room. When his hand reached the handle to his bedroom door, he paused. Its angle was off.

He opened the door for a small slip of paper to flutter towards the ground. He glanced at it, then some small pieces of crushed pencil lead, and continued into his room. He removed his backpack and took out some books. His irritation was growing as Ryuk continued to pester him about getting more fruit.

“Ryuzaki, I still don’t understand how Kira has a connection with the police. I mean, couldn’t anyone do this?” a young police detective questioned. He sat behind a laptop as he looked at the latest reports of people that died from heart attacks. He looked over towards the crouched man in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve white shirt.

The man, known as Ryuzki, sighed. “Kira’s first slip was when he began to stop killing people that were convicted as guilty, but could actually be innocent. It seems he started to realize that Japan doesn’t always have the best criminal justice system in the world. He could have only obtained some of this information if he was connected with the police and had access to some of their files. Then, when the Japanese police began to suspect he was a high school student, criminals started to die at all hours of the day. As if to say, I see what you suspect, so now what are you going to do about this?”

“Couldn’t that have been coincidences?”

“No, they’re not,” Ryuzaki spoke with more of a bite than normal. “Kira doesn’t just shift his behaviors on a whim. He does it with purpose.” Ryuzaki shuffled and held up a paper. “Mogi, would you contact this person. I’d like for them to assist us with the Kira investigation. For now, they don’t need to come here. I just need a good time to chat with them. But be ready to set up similar Covid procedures that you all went through just in case. They do speak Japanese, so you should be fine not speaking English.”

Mogi nodded and glanced at the paper. Clandestine was the name printed on it with a phone number and an email.

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? Want me to continue? Let me know!


End file.
